Curiosity and Closure
by Lonepichu
Summary: *contains mild spoilers* Isa embarks on a quest to help his hot-headed friend, but along the way finds that destiny has a plan for them, one which cannot be escaped.


**Curiosity and Closure**

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any related characters. I do own this idea that'd been swimming in my head for a bit after finishing the game. Enjoy!

ooo

"So let me get this straight," Isa paced in front of his fiery headed companion, holding a finger up for emphasis, "you want us to somehow scale the castle wall by using vines that may or may not be there and will somehow defy physics and support us, enter a window that we will randomly come across, ignoring the architecture of the actual building, and then make it down the probably heavily guarded halls into this tech lab that we're not even sure it has so you can make a copy of the internal memory, assuming of course that the computer isn't password protected, all so you can see the truth of something that is probably not even stored in the internal memory of said computer. Have I left anything out?"

Lea looked away. "Well, when you put it that way..." he trailed off, drawing invisible designs on the cobblestones of the street where he and Isa had been sitting, enjoying a sea salt ice cream. That is until he opened his mouth about his latest scheme.

"I'm not putting it any way other than the logical way. One of us has to think things through logically and it's certainly never been you." Isa folded his arms, glaring down at his friend, who avoided his eyes.

Lea sighed and laid back, watching the clouds dance in the sky as the wind escorted them towards a destination that they were ignorant to. To be one of those clouds... "I just really want that data," he admitted. He also admitted, though only in his mind, that his plan had been stupid from the get go, but he had hoped that today would be the one day Isa would have ignored reason in order to have some fun. The data would have been an added bonus to that.

"Why is this data so important to you?" Isa was curious, as ever since the local news had distributed a story about a new tech lab being built somewhere within the castle, his friend had spoke of nothing during his hair-brained adventure attempt but obtaining data from the lab.

Lea shrugged from where he was laying. "Curiosity, looking for some closure, etcetera." He waved the question away with no intention of a better explanation than the one he had given.

"Closure?" Isa turned. He knew his friend had an issue concerning the disappearance of his mother, but what kind of closure could he get from a computer that was locked inside the bowels of a castle. Isa decided not to press the issue as, even though it had been well over a year ago, it was still a sore spot for Lea.

"Yeah," Lea answered simply. "So much for that. You're probably right anyways, that computer would be impossible to get to, even for someone as cunning as you."

Isa stopped, slightly annoyed. He knew Lea would try to provoke him into compliance by questioning his intelligence, but damn it all if it didn't work every time. "Someone could be the most cunning, intelligent person in the world and they still could not break the laws of physics for a fantasy." He turned and disappeared down an alley leaving a confused and slightly hurt Lea behind him.

ooo

Isa stared at the castle wall, glancing over his shoulder periodically to make sure no guards were approaching. Lea had been right about a latticework of vines covering a small position of the castle wall, but how would he climb it without seriously injuring or humiliating himself from a fall? As he continued staring at the wall, hoping for an answer to manifest, one surprisingly did. It came in the form of a little girl.

He heard the laughter before the shouts. Flattening himself against the wall, he chanced a peek at the commotion. His eyes widened as he realized the laughter had belonged to Kairi, a little girl whom many revered as their princess. She was currently bolting away from the castle with two burly guards chasing after her. "Kairi, please return at once!" One of the guards shouted after her in an indistinguishable accent. The other huffed as he ran, nearly out of breath.

"No!" she shouted, continuing her run like a rabbit being stalked by a hungry fox, though in contrast, she was enjoying this chase with childlike fascination. "Not until I find her!" Whatever was said next, Isa missed. His curiosity was killing him, but he thought it best not to follow, especially when the doors to the castle were not only completely unguarded, but slightly open. He looked around, making certain no guards would jump out, and made his way nonchalantly inside.

Inside, the halls sprawled every which way. It was like a maze. "Hmm," he mused to himself, "apparently Lea was right about one thing." As he wandered he noticed that the halls were surprisingly unguarded. He also humored the thought that he had gotten further than Lea and he ever had when they had tried infiltrating the castle together. Although, he couldn't say it was due to his intelligence as he had just gotten surprisingly lucky.

The castle was a point of wonder for the boys, which is why they always tried to sneak inside. They would sometimes hear rumors about happenings inside its walls, but the rumors usually cropped up when there was nothing else to gossip about in town and so they were probably more myths bred from boredom than anything. Whether true or not, they served to continually pique the boys' curiosity. Every kingdom had their secrets, and it was this that drove Isa to do stupid things at the whim of his best friend. It wasn't even that Lea was always stupid so much as eager to get to the end results and so skimping on the means to get there. Isa liked to think everything through before working, though he realized he followed Lea simply because he didn't like giving the orders himself. Some people were born to be leaders and others were born to follow along, giving importance to the leader. Isa preferred the latter more and his friend fulfilled the former.

Isa shook his head, clearing his mind as he continued along slowly and soundlessly through the grandiose halls. They had never been inside the castle before and he caught himself staring around in awe. It wasn't that civilians were never allowed inside, but it was a rare happenstance as they wanted to protect those inside from any harm. Finally the twisting hallways brought him to a door. He had no idea how he'd gotten there and was certain he probably couldn't find his way back, so he entered slowly. He closed the door carefully behind him, jumping slightly when it clicked into place. He held his breath waiting for several minutes which seemed to span hours. No one came.

He exhaled and continued on his way. Slightly down the hall, he noticed a large office with open door. There were papers scattered everywhere on the desk and floor. The man sitting at the desk sighed, tossing another paper aside. On the wall in front of him hung a portrait of, Isa assumed, himself. He was slightly tanned with silver hair and wearing the standard castle lab coat. If there was a scientist here, then he must be heading in the right direction towards the lab. He snuck by the door quiet as a mouse and just as he assumed he was in the clear, "Braig?"

The voice made him jump. He lost his balance on the slick tiled floor and fell over with a thud. "Braig, is that you?"

Isa felt it'd be ridiculous at this point to pretend that no one was there after all the commotion he'd made. "No." A simple answer. He picked himself off the floor as he waited for a reply, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Oh," the man said disappointed, "well, if you see Braig, can you tell him to come here? I'm having a slight miscalculation."

"Sure." Straight and to the point. Sighing in relief, he continued forward, only to hear footsteps behind him. He paused for a second before continuing along; thinking it better than facing what was behind him. He ducked into another open room and hid behind a cabinet inside. The room was dark and empty. The footsteps stopped outside the door. Isa counted, trying hard not to think about whatever had followed him in hopes that this would make it leave. No such luck.

The lights turned on and the footsteps continued inside. There was no point in hiding anymore at this point, so he abandoned his spot beside the cabinet and strolled towards the man. He was the same one from the office. "I thought the voice belonged to an outsider." The man surveyed him with eerily yellow eyes. Isa didn't flinch, staring intently back. "Though I applaud you for coming this far. What brings you hear, may I ask?"

He was nice, but Isa refused to let his guard down, "Curiosity," he answered truthfully, though he failed to mention it was the curiosity of his friend.

"Hmm," The man considered him, pacing around the room. He then walked over to the door and shut it, clicking the lock into place. Isa felt a chill creep up his spine, but he ignored it, standing tall. "Curiosity of what? There is a lot to be curious about within these walls, but rarely does this curiosity bring one to infiltrate it. Even rarer is the person actually successful." He paced, hand to his chin. "You're a gifted youth." It was odd hearing someone call him gifted. Usually people only referred to Lea this way as the boy had the memory of an elephant and was decently gifted in combat. Intelligence was never really noticed by their other friends or the adults. Isa relaxed his posture slightly. The man smiled. "Tell me, what is it that you're seeking?"

Isa looked up at the man who appeared to have no intentions of hurting him, despite confining him to the room. "Data from the new lab," he responded, looking straight into the man's eyes.

The man chuckled. "Is that all? There's not much there yet, as the data is still in the process of being moved, but why? There are so many valuables in this building and information on things that most could not possibly fathom and you come seeking something so humble. The new lab, as I'm sure you know, is only a catalog of the people who have lived or are currently living in this world as well as visitors, a census if you will. It's nothing interesting, no dirt for black mail or gossip fodder, so why?"

Isa considered for a moment why he was seeking such data still. This was his adventure into the inner workings of the castle and yet he still held Lea's request as his reason. He supposed friendship would do that to you. "Closure," he finally replied.

"I see," the man looked away from him at a poster on the wall depicting a creature Isa had never seen before. "Stay here," he commanded, and swiftly left the room.

Isa leaned against the wall, studying the poster as he waited. The smart thing would have been to leave right now, but for some reason he stayed. It wasn't only his curiosity, but the man himself. He felt drawn to him. It wasn't only the way he had acknowledged Isa's strongpoint, but the fact that he was met with respect. Never once was he talked down to as if a child nor were his replies met with complaining or a hurt stare as often was the case with Lea. He knew he could be short and considered rude, but that was never his intention and his friend understood this better than anyone. It still didn't prevent the look of hurt from clouding his features.

Finally, the door clicked back open. Isa looked up to see the man smiling, holding out a disc. Isa stared at it incredulously. Had the man really retrieved the data he needed instead of summoning troops to take him away? Isa readily accepted this gift. "Thanks," he said, still in shock. The man smiled at his expression.

"I give this to you with the request that you don't show it to anyone, not your parents or your friends." Isa nodded furiously, his strong demeanor forgotten as the fruit of his labor lay resting in his palms. "Also, I have but one request of you. Well, two actually."

"Sure!" Isa said without hesitation.

"First, what is your name?" the man asked.

"It's Isa." That was a simple request, though one he felt should be reciprocated. "May I ask yours?"

"I'll answer you after you answer me. When the time comes, I will need you and your friends to help me. I need those with special gifts like yours. You see, we're working on an experiment and we may need more volunteers in the future. Would you be willing to do this?"

"Sure," Isa nodded. This seemed like a good request. Another chance to enter and explore the castle seemed more like another gift than a request. He would, of course, bring Lea. He wouldn't imagine sharing the experience with anyone else, plus if their intelligence were to be measured against each other, Isa may come out to be even smarter. Perhaps he could even work at the lab one day alongside this man. Isa had always secretly dreamed to become a scientist at the castle, working towards some secret goal that he would finally be a part of instead of speculating about outside in the town. This had always been a pipe dream, though, as he was only a commoner and very few if any ever received jobs within the castle.

"Now that you have answered me, I'll answer you. As for my name, please, call me Ansem."

ooo

Lea walked the streets, kicking at an abandoned ice cream stick on the ground. Isa had been away all day; could he really be that mad from his jab? He had always joked with his friend in this manner, though. The sky was growing dark and soon Lea would be forced to return home for the day. Then again, it was no fun without his partner in crime at his side, so he turned to make the trek back to his house. When he did so, he nearly collided with his blue-haired friend. "Isa!" he shouted, grinning ear to ear.

Isa smiled back, hands behind his back. "Lea, how much do you appreciate me?"

"Huh?" Lea looked at his friend in surprise, "what kind of question is that? I appreciate you a lot, man. You're my best friend, after all. Heck, today without you yelling at me or getting in trouble with me was so boring. I'll take our failed adventures any day over being alone."

"Hmm," Isa thought, "I guess that answer will have to do."

"Do for what?" Lea asked as the answer was shoved into his hands. A disc glinted in his palms. "What?" He was shell-shocked.

Isa turned, not looking his friend in the eye. This made lying easier. "I only managed to grab two files before I was caught, but I made sure to grab the important ones first, so I think you'll find them helpful."

"Wait, did you..." Lea trailed off, staring at Isa's back with wide eyes. The next thing Isa knew, he was wrapped into his friend's strong arms in a bear hug. "No way! How did you...? Oh man!" Lea was speaking too fast to make sense, lost in his euphoria. Isa smiled, enjoying the embrace for a moment before making his usual protesting.

"Hey, cut that out," Isa brushed himself off as Lea stepped back, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Anyways, you better check it out." He pulled out a small portable computer from his messenger bag. Together the two crowded around it as Lea loaded the disc.

On screen were two names. One matched that of his mother. Lea made an indiscernible noise as he looked at the name. The other was "Ventus?" Lea asked, remembering the blonde boy who they'd met nearly a year ago.

"I thought you might want to know what happened to him. I know you two hit it off and we haven't seen him at all. I figured you could use closure for that, too." Isa looked away. Lea's expression softened as he opened the file.

"Thanks man, you don't know how much this means." Isa smiled, nodding at his friend. "You know you're going to have to tell me about your adventures! How did you even get in the castle or find this data?"

"Tomorrow," Isa agreed as the two sat poring over the two files. Little did Lea know that the rest were tucked safely away in Isa's room. Little did Lea know just what his friend had unwittingly promised them into. Little did Lea know just what had occurred from his simple need for closure, but at the moment none of that mattered to either of them as they looked forward to their next adventure, spurred on by today's success.

ooo

End

I wanted to write a Lea and Isa friendship story with plot relevance, so this is what I got. It's short, mostly testing the waters with their personalities. I'm a sucker for Lea and Isa friendship fluff. To me, it adds a tragic layer to just what comes to pass in the next few org games (days, CoM, KHII). This will hopefully be the first of more BbS stories involving these two.


End file.
